Sorry for trusting a certain foodie magazine and not my gut instinct when it told me to pour liquid gold (aka sweetened condensed milk) into a glass pan, cover it tightly and then bake it for two hours so that it could turn into smooth silky almost burnt sugar gold.

Sorry when it all turned to chunky beige mush instead.

I would show you a picture, but the.boy actually LAUGHED AT ME when he saw it. Then he looked at what it was suppose to look like in the magazine and he laughed more.

Then he looked at the pan again and gagged.

I just can’t put you through that kind of emotional rollercoaster.

Would I do it all again just to end up with this chocolate pudding pie in my life?

Hands down. Absolutely. Without a doubt. Yes.

I actually grew up eating chocolate pudding pie at Thanksgiving every year, but when my mom made it she would use a premade crust and pudding from a box. Don’t get me wrong, it was AMAZING, but that kind of semi homemade thing just doesn’t jive well with this everything-from-scratch vibe I’ve got going on.

So when I found myself with an empty pie crust and nothing to fill it with…I knew what I had to do. Chocolate pudding pie. Or bust.

And in about 10 minutes, I had a chocolate pudding filling on my hands. That’s seriously quick it was. I’m pretty sure the boxed stuff actually takes LONGER than that.

I am never going back to my semi-homemade ways. At least, not when there’s rich decadent just-like-your-momma-made-it-but-better pie to be had.

So….it is the LAST.DAY.OF.PIE.WEEK. And I am kind of beside myself.

Can I just bake pies all of next week too and we’ll just call it pie week squared? Or are you guys sick of all the butter and sugar? I hope not because there is a lot more where this came from in the next few weeks. So get your stretchy pants ready.

Homemade chocolate pudding in a graham cracker crust - chocolate pudding pie just like mom always used to make it (but homemade)!

Yield: 1 9-inch pie

Ingredients

For the crust

5 oz graham cracker crumbs

¼ cup brown sugar

¼ tsp salt

4 oz butter, melted

For the filling

¼ cup cornstarch

⅓ cup plus 2 tbsp sugar, divided

3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

¼ tsp salt

2 cups lowfat milk

1 cup half and half

4 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup chilled heavy cream

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, salt, and melted butter until they are well mixed. Pat into a 9-inch pie pan. Bake for 10 minutes, or until set. Set aside to cool.

For the filling, whisk together the cornstarch, ⅓ cup sugar, cocoa powder, and salt in a heavy 2-quart saucepan. Gradually whisk in the milk, making sure to mix in the dry ingredients in the corners of the pan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly, and then boil for 2 minutes, still whisking, allowing the mixture to thicken. Remove from the heat and whisk in the chocolate and vanilla.

Pour the filling into the shell and cover with wax paper or plastic wrap that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Let chill for at least 2 hours.

Just before serving, beat the cream with the remaining 2 tbsp of sugar until it holds firm peaks. Spoon onto the pie and garnish with chocolate shavings.

Salted caramel pie sound delicious….i’m sure there is a good recipe out there somewhere! This pie looks so good!!! Chocolate pudding pie used to be one of my favorites, but I haven’t had it in so long! I used to use pudding mix, pre-made graham cracker crust & cool whip. I bet this version tastes 100x better!

I love that this is from scratch! I used to make a lot of recipes with shortcuts (i.e., not from scratch 🙁 ), but now that I’ve been making things from scratch for the most part for a while now, it’s hard to go back. But I do remember how awesome that chocolate pudding pie my mom used to make (with boxed pudding) was….. Your version is waaaay better though, for sure!

Boy do I love pie! This looks so comforting and so much better than the version made from boxes ingredients! Sorry that other pie didn’t work out. Sounds like they were trying to get you to make dulce de leche with the sweetened condensed milk, and if so, there are way more efficient ways to go about that than in a dish in the oven! Oh well 🙂

Bummer when that happens – I hate throwing food away. Looks like you had a nice recovery though with this beautiful pie. I hadn’t ever heard of people eating this as a traditional dessert for the holidays until a few years ago.

chocolate pudding pie is a perfect way to recover from such a disaster! I haven’t had this kind of pie in AGES, but may just make it for our Thanksgiving gathering just so I can enjoy homemade pudding. yummmmmmm!

Jeff’s mom always makes chocolate pudding pie for the holidays. I doubt I can get her to change her recipe, but the bittersweet chocolate in her sounds wonderful. I’ve done that condensed milk in a glass pan for something before… and it had to be in a water bath too I think. A huge pain!

Oh man. I am so sorry your first pie didn’t turn out. I can totally sympathize with kitchen disasters like this.
But when an amazing chocolate pie like this is born from a disaster? It makes it kind of worth the suffering, right?
This looks amazing. End of.
Pinning!

Now you have me craving chocolate pudding! My mom always used to make it when we were feeling sick and I loved eating it warm off the stove…I’m also the weirdo who likes when the pudding gets that “skin” on it after being in the fridge. But deciding to put the pudding in your pie crust sounds like a very good idea 🙂

I kind of love old school box pudding desserts but this really does look and sound so much better. I am pretty sure I’d eat this pie with a spoon out of the pie dish… oops! Looks like your original fail turned into a big success.

Joanne, I entered the Kitchen Aid food processor competition (I’m feeling lucky!) With Thanksgiving coming soon, I’ll have to get my separate “pie stomach” back into commission. I’ve set this part of my stomach aside to handle the pumpkin pie, chocolate pudding pie, (and is there such a thing as cranberry pie)?

was it a food and wine salted caramel pie? if so, i’ve made that a few times…haven’t had the caramel burning problem but I was definitely nervous re: the method. I recommend trying it again…it is so worth it!!

I love chocolate pudding pie but never associated it with Thanksgiving until I moved to New England. We are invited to our friend’s home each year for this holiday. The mother of our hostess brings chocolate pudding pie each year but with one slice missing. She has the first slice at home and then brings the rest to her daughter’s home for all her guests on Thanksgiving day. 🙂 Yours sounds delicious with the graham cracker crust.

My husband loved his mom’s chocolate pie from a box. He does not love mine from a box but likes it from scratch. What’s with that? Anyway, get this, just yesterday I promised him a chocolate pudding pie and a chocolate pudding pie he shall have. I guess I need to use your recipe since it conveniently placed itself in front of me.

This looks OUTRAGEOUS! I haven’t had pie like that in yeeeears. And I’m with ya – I’ve been telling myself to trust my gut more when cooking, EVEN when it’s something from a trusted source. If it doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t.

just made this recipe with a couple of minor adjustments: 3 oz of baker’s chocolate, flour and cornstarch used, mostly cornstarch and a bit more sugar at the end…added mini marshmallows too. OMG. soooo good! homemade pudding rocks! i will never buy jello brand again.

Oops! I’m so sorry, I should have made the instructions clearer. The half and half should be added with the milk in step 3. Did you end up adding it at all? If not, that could be why it tasted gelatinous. Otherwise, the only other thing I can think of is that maybe there was too much cornstarch added. Hope this helps!!